Angela Merkel is accused of ‘importing Islamists, rapists, murderers and terrorists’ and faces calls to resign as she is questioned by new nationalist opposition in German parliament for first time
German chancellor faced calls to resign over mass refugee influx in 2015-2016
Nationalist opposition said she had ‘imported rapists, murderers and terrorists’
Merkel said actions were a response to ‘extraordinary humanitarian situation’
Chancellors have not previously interacted directly with MPs in the same way British prime ministers do, but Merkel will face questions three times a year
JULIAN ROBINSON
DAILYMAIL.COM
7 June 2018
Angela Merkel has been accused of ‘importing Islamists, rapists, murderers and terrorists’ as she was questioned by nationalist opposition in the German parliament for the first time.
The German chancellor also faced calls to resign as she came under pressure over her open-doors policy on migration that saw hundreds of thousands of refugees entering the country in 2015.
Gottfried Curio, a member of the opposition Alternative for Germany, or AfD, hit out at the 63-year-old for causing the country ‘the most serious harm and future costs of hundreds of billions’.
Chancellors have not previously interacted directly with MPs in the same way British prime ministers do at their weekly question time. Mrs Merkel will now face questions three times a year – though some opposition lawmakers say the format is too inflexible.
At Wednesday’s roughly one-hour session, questions and answers were kept to a maximum of a minute each, with no follow-up questions. The calm but concentrated atmosphere was far from the lively question time in London.
There were few personal attacks during the session, which addressed issues ranging from diesel emissions to the number of women in parliament.
AfD, however, sought to assail Merkel over the influx of more than a million migrants to Germany in 2015 and 2016.
Curio, an AfD member from Berlin, urged Mrs Merkel to resign, adding: ‘Your abdication of any control of a flood of a million illegal immigrants has caused Germany the most serious harm, future costs of hundreds of billions, asylum and social benefits fraud, the import of dangerous Islamists, endless human suffering through rapists and murders, knife-wielders and terrorists.
‘All this you have to answer for, a terrible price for your friendly face,’ the 52-year-old added.
Mrs Merkel calmly replied: ‘We had an extraordinary humanitarian situation in 2015 in which Germany acted responsibly and also legally.
‘This was confirmed by the European Court of Justice in July 2017. The basic political decisions were correct and we have carried out a large number of measures in the meantime that make it clear that it was an extraordinary situation.’
Meanwhile, Mrs Merkel also predicted difficult talks at the Group of Seven summit, warning that there is ‘no sense in papering over divisions’ on issues such as trade.
The group of Western powers meets in Canada on Friday and Saturday amid growing tensions between the U.S. and its allies after Washington announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear agreement, and slapped steel and aluminum tariffs on its traditional partners.
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